FlipItBig.com
This is my personal opinion based on observation. You may disagree, that is what makes this country great.
New forums spring up every week it seems like. Some start with grand purposes and others are just, well, weak from the start.
I’m sure when FlipItBig.com started the goals were noble. I’m sure the founders were convinced they had information to share that can help others.
And they might.
But, the segment they are likely to be able to help is very small.
They also have several annoyances to use their site. You can only read a few pages before a cookie is set to block you from reading more without registering. Rather than just deleting the cookies, I registered when the screen first appeared. It was a mistake, and now instead of rejoining with fake credentials I have a small script that just looks for their cookies to appear while browsing and deletes them. That let me read as much as I wanted with the silly nag screens.
My impression of the site? There are much better sites and a few that are worse.
The title of the site can be misleading, I know that several people started reading and posting thinking it was focused on flipping really big deals like multi-unit buildings or entire mobile home parks.
It’s not.
It’s about the churn and burn through hundreds of flips each year to generate as much ordinary income as possible.
There is nothing wrong with that, but that is not investing. That is just another job and they lament long about the downside of having a j-o-b.
I’ve been investing for 24 years. Really investing. With a long term outlook. Until very recently a j-o-b figured prominently in my strategy.
Anyway, if you are looking for a site that will tell you how hard the admins are working at churning deals, that is great place for some reading. In fairness, they do try to delve deeper into the details but it falls short.
The admins there definitely know the mechanics of a few ways to put things together but I haven’t seen anything showing they know why they work. I’ve seen no demonstration of fundamental knowledge. They know some recipes and can follow them but create a new dish? Probably not.
Hey Tim, I resemble that remark!!!
No hard feelings on this, everyone is entitiled to their own opinion. I think we have a good product for beginners and experienced investors alike at our site. It will grow as will the topics covered etc.
I of course cannot speak for the other admin at the site, but I have been involved in many different types of transactions and business types within the real estate business. Of course as you know, you can only give enough or the level of advice that the members can appreciate or understand. I try to teach everyone to some point, but as you know it is hard without making a huge time commitment.
We will grow and hopefully increase our members knowledge at the same time.
Nice try, Gerald. Your nick, ip and domain have been blacklisted.
I was invited by a member of my website (I’m a co-owner). This member is a co-owner of FlipItBig.com.
I did enjoy FlipItBig although it’s title wasn’t what I thought it was. But it’s a forum for beginners. I was under the impression that it’s a fairly new forum with plenty of room to grow with time. Well, I was very disappointed to learn that I was wrong…..
You see, I was shocked when I read some of the replies Gerald made on FlipItBig.com. He was extremely unkind and unprofessional to few of the new members. He should have used better responses as well as act like a professional RE investor and Forum co-owner.
I sent an email to one of the owners (the one who invited me). As a courtesy, I explained why I did not think it was wise for me to remain a member of his website. No, I did not have a problem with this specific owner (member of my website). I genuinely hope he does not share same belief as Gerald who apparently still hasn’t improved his attitudes.
Steve? Yes, I believe he is an administrator but so far, I have no direct problem with him. So far, I have no reason to assume that he shares same belief or attitude as Gerald.
On that same day, unbeknown to my hubby, he clicked onto FlipItBig. It stated that I and my ip was banned. WOW! I had no idea that I was such a “bad girl” who deserved to be banned. Was I not professional? They didn’t like my concerns? Do they even know the true purpose of “Ban” or do they just like to abuse it?
Now, on my public forum, I had never said unkind words about FlipItBig. I gave it a praise. I actually thought it would grow to be a very successful website/forum. I was happy for my member! I guess I’ll have to eat my words on my public forum. We’ll see if FlipItBig.com will improve or continue to use non-professional words and attitudes (see “Your Worste Nightmare”’s reply above). Is it Gerald? I don’t know nor do I really care about “Your Worste Nightmare” character. I don’t like bullies. It is really too bad for he chose to expose his true character to the whole world. He could have easily make apologies in private and make right for FlipItBig quietly and let his website grow successfully. *sighs*
Hey Tim (this is Tim right?) and Debbie,
I’m Jared, the third owner and moderator over at Flipitbig.com. I just wanted to throw my two cents out here.
First off, it was unfortunate about what happened on the site a few months back. To be honest I still don’t know exactly what happened! All I know is there were quick disagreements and then the “stuff” hit the fan. Big picture I guess it doesn’t even matter.
When we started our site it was not only to try to help others get started in real estate but to help ourselves too. Tim, someday I hope to truly understand the meaning of “investing”, as I am aware that what I am doing right now is my J-O-B. Someday I will be a true investor, until that happens this is what I need to do. In all honesty though it is fun to say that I don’t have a regular job and don’t have to answer to anybody but myself. I guess that makes me self employed…
As far as Gerald goes I cannot speak for him or what happened between him and any of you. He is a great friend to me and that’s pretty much all I have to say about that.
As far as our website name goes, I think we picked it because it was clever, kind of like MagicBullets.com, not to mislead anybody.
I have nothing but respect for Debbie and the fambly over there at MagicBullets.com. Dan has been an inspiration to me and a great help when I needed it.
We’ll see if FIB lasts… only time will tell.
Jared
Thanx for responding Jared. I’m glad you responded because you always showed some class! You’re a good guy.
Jared is the member who invited me. Out of respect to Jared, I kept his name out when I spoke of him.
Why do the newbies call it a J-O-B? Oh yeah, because the gurus do that. :rolleyes:
I used to feel that way to be honest. Then after I met and talked to Tim I realized how important a real job is to anyone wanting to be an investor. Tim can explain it better than I can but you have to reach a point in your investing where you can replace the income you need to live without eating into principal. I am not there yet and I still have a job, but you what? I really like my job because I am not fully dependant on it. If it went away I could easily adjust until I found another great job. I wouldn’t have to take the first thing that came along.
As for the flipitbig site, I started reading it but I figured if I had to register just to read there were probably some other flakey things too. That’s just me though.
Good luck
OMG does that site suck! The admin there uses the nick flipitbig and he is just lame. The other admins are ok but flipitbig makes it a site to avoid all by himself.
Thank you, Tim. I thought it was just me. I asked a question there and it languished without an answer. I did a bump and the whole thread was deleted. The jist of the bump was if no one knew the answer could they point me to someone who did. I found out later from another poster there a response telling me to find you was posted and that is why the thread was deleted.
You must really have their number for them to be that paranoid about you. LOL!
BTW, could you recommend some other great learning sites? I am fairly new to this investing thing and know I have lots to learn.
And if the your field guide for investors ever opens up for new members, let me know, I want to join.